Beginning of The End

XIII

The way Virat had his eyes glimmering down at the blue jersey in his hands, told him everything he needed to know.

Without wasting another second, he let his kitbag drop on the ground with a loud thud and flung his arms around Virat. "Fuck Virat, thank god you're fine."

His body vibrated as he let out a chuckle and pulled away, patting his back. "I'm fine, but what's up with you? You don't seem like the calm, subdued Jinx I knew at all." Virat joked, making him roll his eyes.

"Let's just say you're not the only one who's changed." His eyes turned wide at the retort, and he let out a loud laugh, shaking his head. Jinks shook his head fondly at him and pulled away. Just then, the entire team poured into the changing room one by one.

Everyone looked surprised to see him. Rohit and Mahi bhai didn't have the courage to tell them what had happened at the dinner, mainly because they weren't clear about it themselves.

But Hardik and Jassi had seen Virat in the parking lot, running towards his car with an unconscious Anushka in his arms. Before they could approach him, they saw Dev and Jinks hurrying them inside the car and, they zoomed out of there.

"Good to see you, champ." Ravi bhai was the last one to enter the room and, he went straight to Virat, swiftly putting an arm around him for a side hug. Everyone could see that Virat visibly stilled for a second.

The world had made a million memes on the two of them. They could say a thousand times that Virat favored him too much. But the people around them knew that it was vice-versa as well.

Still, Ravi bhai being so openly affectionate was something that took a few seconds to register in Virat's mind. But as soon as it did, he melted into the embrace.

"So, what's the plan?" He asked after he pulled away, passing him a gracious smile. Ravi bhai mirrored the smile for a split second before clearing his throat and facing everyone, his face stoic once again.

"We go out there, smash the Aussies and come back to celebrate."

The boys let out a cheer of excitement at that, and Virat winced slightly, the loud sound doing little to help with his growing headache. But he didn't want anyone to know anything, so he forced a smile on his face and grabbed his bottle, quickly gulping the liquid down.

He sat back in the dressing room fidgeting with his phone, not having the energy to interact with anyone when Rohit went out for the toss. Australia had lost the toss, and Rohit had chosen to field first.

During the second over of the match, when Rohit dropped a relatively easy catch, Virat felt annoyance rising within him. But he stopped himself before he said anything and just maintained his position. He was not the captain anymore, and neither were they friends.

By the fifth over, Virat could feel his sight blurring at times, his head was spinning but, he pushed himself to focus.

The last ball came flying towards Virat and, he jumped to catch it, hissing when he felt his elbow slam against the floor and a surge of pain ran through him at the impact. But as he laid on the ground, his hand in the air, instead of feeling exhausted, he felt a sudden boost of energy and stood up once again.

The boys were cheering in excitement, hugging each other but, Dev saw the way Virat was shaking his hand, probably to get rid of the burning sensation.

"Bhaiya are you fine?" Dev asked him once the boys went back to their positions, and Virat nodded his head. "I'm fine, don't worry. You go back." He patted Dev on the back, and he reluctantly walked back to his place.